The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to sorting conveyors having diverting rollers actuated electromagnetically.
Sorting conveyors, or sorters, are used to selectively divert conveyed articles to discharge conveyors or terminals on one or the other side of the sorter. One example of such a sorter is a swivel sorter having an array of rollers mounted at individual pivotable assemblies. The assemblies are pivoted, or swiveled, to orient the rollers to direct conveyed articles along trajectories toward either side of the sorter or straight ahead. The rollers may be freely rotatable and rely on the momentum of articles fed onto the sorter to advance articles along their selected trajectories, or the rollers may be powered by belts to propel the articles along their trajectories. The swiveling and roller-activation mechanisms limit the density of the article-supporting rollers, which, in turn, limits the minimum package size. Furthermore, the actuation mechanisms can be bulky and noisy.